


Moominvalley under Quarantine

by YumeSin



Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: M/M, Not Beta Read, dw no one gonna catch the sickness, just something soft and light hearted, not proof read, really really soft things, with a lil angst for joxter and moominpapa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:00:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26706373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumeSin/pseuds/YumeSin
Summary: I had this sitting in my google doc drafts for months, decided to add a bit then post. May do more in the future. Felt like I needed these guys here for my sanity.Hope you guys enjoy and are staying safe with how things have been lately <3.
Relationships: Joxaren | The Joxter & Muminpappan | Moominpappa, Mumintrollet | Moomintroll/Snusmumriken | Snufkin
Kudos: 7





	Moominvalley under Quarantine

Moominvalley has heard some troubling news over the radio. Apparently, there was a deadly sickness spreading across the world. No one knows where it came from or if it had any presence on the island. It was the middle of Spring and allergies were starting to be seen as possible symptoms of the disease. It caused a rift between those who inhabited the island, sparking a silent tension. No one wanted to get sick, everyone wanted this sickness to go away already. They wanted their eternity of adventure to return. 

After very much thought, the town decided to enact social distancing. 

  
  
  


Well, that is until Little My got bored and wanted to bother Sniff. Our story starts here, in Moonmintrolls’ kitchen. 

* * *

“Moomin, where are you!?? I need you to get this diseased brat off me!” cried out Sniff, shaking his tail as quickly as possible. Littly My clung tight onto the others tail, cackling. A grin was spread across the girl’s face, elated to have caused Sniff this much distress. 

“No worries Moomin, Sniff’s just my buddy for all this! If I get sick, he gets sick. And vise versa.” 

Moominmama caught wind of this, seeing the two inside the kitchen’s entryway. She shook her head at the two, being unable to pull Sniff and Little My from one another. She had been tending to Moominpapa’s and Moomintroll’s lunches. And, with social distancing in effect, that increased the difficulty for handling the current plight. 

“Now you two, you know we’re supposed to stay six feet apart. Moomin will be back shortly, he’s to pick up lunch. Hm, now that I think about it...isn’t he supposed to be back by now?” Moominmama thought deeply. She stared down at Grandma’s best soup recipe, watching the spices swirl around in the broth. Could it be that something occurred to the two? 

“Moominmama, me and Sniff can look for him! Uh, staying six feet away from Moomin at least!” Little My happily offered. She still clung to Sniff’s tail, despite all the thrashing.

“How about you stay six feet from **me** **?!?”** Sniff exclaimed, hopping toward the house’s exit. 

“Be safe you two, I’m counting on you to find out where he went. I’m worried they got into some trouble down at the beach,” Moominmama said, raising her voice as the two continued to argue.

“Just how long will this sickness last,” Moominmama thought to herself, lowering the fire to a slow burn.

* * *

The sound of the sea waves called to Moominpapa. With nothing but the sea around him, he could achieve both distance and happiness! But, with things as they were at home, no one wanted to do such. They wanted to follow agreed orders of staying at home and distancing oneself from others. Such a simple thing was much easier to achieve when it wasn’t a requirement. Being told to stay in just made Moominpapa want to go out more! He couldn’t stand reading through another book, revising more of his memoir, waiting for things to go back! 

...And then, the waves from the sea crashed once more. The bucket of fish that sat beside the Moomintroll had been past full. Moominpapa had been fishing since the early morning. Moomin had originally joined him, but left to collect lunch from Moominmama. The words of his own kin echoed, a frown appearing on Moominpapa’s face.

_ “Papa, when will we be out at sea again! I want to visit more places, learn more things! Sitting at home just leaves me with the jitters!”  _

_ “Now now, Moomin. Keep in mind that those new places may be suffering horribly from this sickness. That, or, what if we have it and it spreads? Once this thing blows over, we’ll be able to safely enter new territory. Easy as that.”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “But, but.okay. It just feels so endless, the days melt into each other, I can’t visit my friends. It just feels...empty is all.”  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Well, emptiness is part of life. Some days are fuller than others.You see Moomin, the fuller we live our lives, the less that emptiness weighs on you. Remember that.”  _

Moominpapa couldn’t figure out, after having said that, why he could not accept it himself. 

* * *

“Snufkin, why can’t I come any closer?”   
  
“Because Moomin. We need to social distance.”

Moomintroll had stood right outside of Snufkin’s tent. As Moomintroll had been making his way back home, he couldn’t stand not seeing the other anymore. If Moominpapa had been correct about the fuller days helping with the emptiness, well then, today needed to be fuller in Moomintroll’s eyes! Moomintroll huffed, taking a seat just outside the tent. 

“But...I’m already as far as I can bear.” 

“Hm, really? You can’t scoot *any* further back?” 

“Not even an inch!”

The sound of the brook eased in, both falling silent. The greenery and surroundings soon seemed much closer. The steadiness of the stream proved loud enough to cover the awkwardness. Or, at least, mask it with some form of serenity. It had been weeks since Moomintroll had visited Snufkin. The Moomintroll’s previous attempts had been met with silence. That, or a ‘gone fishing’ sign that seemed up far too long for the others liking. This time, Moomin seemed adamant on keeping himself solidly in front of Snufkin’s tent. Moomintroll seemed not to take well to the separation, the distance, the lack of communication. Snufkin had just returned from the Winter, and now, he couldn’t see him as usual? The world felt cruel to the Moomintroll, pushing him even further from Snufkin than the Winter did. 

“Well, sounds like you’re stuck, Moomin. I really hope someone comes to unstuck you.”

  
“Snufkin, just...let me talk with you for a bit. I’m not moving until we have a nice, long conversation.”

  
“Well, this conversation has been plenty long for m, m,” Snufkin began to say, but a string of sneezes followed. A look of distress came across the Moomintroll’s face. Did Snufkin get the sickness? Had he been hiding it all these weeks? 

“Snufkin, are you sick?!? I can give mama to make you s--” 

  
“No Moomin, it’s allergies. I get these every year. They’re especially bad this year.”

“But how do you know its just allergies and not the sickness?”

Just then, the sound of a familiar friend came along. The scream had been too familiar for the two to ignore. 

“Get her off, get her off, get her OFF!” yelled Sniff, running across the bridge.

“Sick buddies, Sick buddies, Sick buddies~” Little My sang. 

Snufkin shook his head at the sounds, letting out a gentle sigh. It appeared the Mumrik would not get his time alone after all.

* * *

A docked boat was a rare sight these days. Even stranger, the shipwright had decided, of all days, to steal Moominpapa’s fish and complain about the state of the world. If it had to be someone, Joxter would be the only person off the island Moominpapa felt comfortable discussing things like this with. But...with his longing for the sea and Joxter’s coaxing, the docked boat was not near Moominvalley. Oh, no, it was an island elsewhere. One Joxter swore would allow for anonymity and would ‘have him home before the moon rose too high’. 

  
  


The duo found some shelter in a long abandoned island. Who would’ve thought these two reunite under such strange circumstances? Moominpapa followed Joxter, the Mumrik’s tail flicking up to alert the other. 

Moominpapa quickly searched the ground for any sight of life. However, the surprise would be on himself. Joxter had pounced on the other. The cold waters began to rustle along the two, fighting within the water. Their hearts rang out with laughter, unbridled by the creeping darkness in the horizon. Splashing would continue, the two chasing along the shoreline. 

  
“Joxter, this is, this isn’t social distancing!” said Moominpapa, catching his breath with his hands on his knees. Sweat would mix with sea water, his fur matted from their previous haggling session. 

“Oh, is it not? Too bad,” Joxter replied, sneaking up behind Moominpapa again and holding him close. The Mumrik wrapped his tail around the other as he did this. Joxter felt his heart pound, the familiar warmth mixed with the sea was all he ever wanted. And, if the two were to die out here, alone, there could be worse fates out there. Joxter had traveled the seas for far too long for that prospect to strike the fear of god in him. Moominpapa, however…

Moominpapa’s hands now rush toward the sand, falling over. He had been exhausted. This was the most activity he had done since the quarantine started. His eyes darted across the long, winding sea. One tiny sailboat was being dragged in by Joxter. 

“Hah. Unfair as always, Joxter.” Moominpapa finally found the words to reply. As much as his mind wished to be blank, to feel the same careless freedom Joxter felt,it couldn’t be matched. The two had diverging paths. This was just one of the few times that intersected. The boat would soon stop dragging. Desperate hands clatter along the others, feeling each others palms. The warmth was still there, between drips of salty sea water. The Mumrik’s tail slowly patted Moominpapa’s hat. 

“Still so warm, Moomin. Even if we--”

“Papa. I’m...a father.” 

The silence set in quicker than last time. Moominpapa stood abruptly, fixing his hat up somewhere high, somewhere the sea water could more easily dry out. He placed the hat onto a high branch.

“We should leave soon, yes? You promised me the moon wouldn’t be too high.”

“I made that promise, yes. But there’s another I made to myself. One I must complete before we leave here.” 


End file.
